UTech academic staff stage sit-in to protest late salary payments

Academic staff at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) today staged a sit-in to protest the late payment of their March salaries.

Following a Zoom meeting held on Thursday morning with the academic staff union, a resolution was voted for lecturers to freeze all academic activities until the university resolves the payment issues.

President of the UTech staff union, Dr Clavery Allen, told The Gleaner that delays in salary payment have been an ongoing issue for quite some time.

“It’s been a longstanding issue where the pay date at UTech has been missed, many months, so persons have to be waiting days to get their salaries, and it's exacerbated by the fact that if you are not paid through NCB, then the norm is that you have to wait an extra day for your payment,” he said.

This, he said, has resulted in incurring late charges, fees, and late penalties from various financial institutions for staff members when their obligations are not met on time.

Salaries were due on Wednesday, March 24, however, according to a memorandum issued by the university, payments were delayed due to technical issues, which are yet to be resolved.

It is unclear when lecturers are expected to be paid.

“We have been in discussions with the management for over three years concerning a change in payroll system because now it is a technical glitch that is causing the problem. Management has indicated that they intend to change the system to use the system that the government provides…however, that has been long in coming and it has not been implemented,” Allen stated.

He said the sit-in will continue until salaries are paid.

- Sashana Small

Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.